Sunday, August 28, 2011

Review and Giveaway: Prenatal Pilates Video

To answer the question I know that half of you asked as soon as you saw the title to this post...

No, I am not pregnant. :)

I just happened to get selected to review this DVD because I have been pregnant in the past, and I am at a time in my life when I have pregnant friends and pregnant blog readers.  Sorry to bust your bubble. :)

Anyways...I was recently selected to receive and review a prenatal Pilates video.  It is choreographed and led by Dale Shea, who has been a certified Pilates instructor since 2001.  Dale felt that there was a need for better prenatal workout DVDs, so she decided to develop one of her own.

I must admit I was a little skeptical when I saw the case for the DVD, but as people say, you shouldn't judge a book by its cover.  Once I popped it into my DVD player and started working out, I was actually pretty impressed.

First off, I really love Dale's tone of voice throughout the video and how she seems to connect with you as a viewer.  I felt like I was taking a personal class in her studio, not like I was watching a video.

Second, as mentioned previously, the video is directed toward pregnant women and provides a great workout for any momma-to-be.  Although a slower warm up and cool down are provided, the video is not extraordinarily easy by any means.  Dale herself was 31 weeks pregnant when she recorded the video, so you know that all the exercises are manageable and healthy for a pregnant woman, but the video still provides a healthy challenge.  Although I'm not pregnant at the moment, I could remember back to when I was, and I know I would have surely appreciated Dale's understanding of the pregnant woman's body and her extra instructions in how to deal with it.  (In fact, I'm definitely going to hold onto the video for if/when I get pregnant again!)  Working out while pregnant can be very difficult at times...I know that I personally had aching joints from about 3 months on.  A DVD like this would have been so helpful and let me still feel the benefits of exercising without the pain caused by running or other strenuous activities.

The DVD is split into seven parts: Intro, Warm up, Mat, Light Weights, Resistance Band, Stability Ball, and Cool Down.  Every section but the Intro is about 20 minutes long, so you are getting a whopping 120 minutes of workout on one DVD.  That's a lot of bang for your buck.  You can pick the sections you want to do, depending on the time and supplies you have with you.  The warm up section is great for stretching and relaxation.

Throughout the video, you can definitely tell that Dale knows what she is doing.  And of course it's reassuring to see her carrying a baby belly of her own.  You can buy the DVD at her website http://www.pilatesformoms.com/ or on Amazon - it's called Prenatal Pilates With Dale Shea.

And now for the fun part, Dale has offered for me to do a giveaway of one of her DVDs!  This would be a great workout DVD to have if you are currently pregnant or plan to get pregnant.  It would also be a great gift for a pregnant friend.

Ways to enter:

1. Leave a comment on this blog post (not on Facebook - Facebook comments will not be counted).
2. Become a follower of my blog, then leave a comment telling me you did so (or that you are already a follower).
3. Put my blog on your blogroll or list of favorite blogs on your own personal blog, then leave a comment telling me you did so (or that I am already on your blogroll).
4. Post on Facebook about this giveaway, then leave a comment telling me you did so.
5. Tweet about this giveaway, then leave a comment telling me you did so.
6. Write a blog post about this giveaway (worth 2 entries), then leave a comment telling me you did so.

The giveaway will run until Thursday, September 1st, at 11:59pm.  I will select a winner from random.org.

Happy entering!

No comments:

Post a Comment